The modern downhill sport of snowboarding has its roots in the mid-1960's, when an engineer invented a toy for his daughter. Over the years, snowboarding has evolved into a very popular winter sport. In 1998 snowboarding was added as a Winter Olympic sport.
Downhill skiing uses separate skis and boot/binding systems for each foot, allowing independent maneuvering of each foot, boot, and ski. In contrast to that, snowboarding equipment consists of one common board on which are mounted the bindings for both of the rider's feet.
Snowboard boot bindings are usually fastened to the snowboard in a permanent, static orientation. Typically they are oriented at an angle of between 45 and 90 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the snowboard. In some cases the angle may approach 0 degrees to accommodate specific riding styles. For example, freestyle riding may have near 0 degree or negative rear foot angles. Higher angles are deemed more appropriate for carving, also known as alpine snowboarding.
A particular binding orientation is chosen to provide the rider with the ideal control and comfort for the sport of downhill snowboarding, and more particularly, the riding style of choice. However, it may not be the ideal orientation for approaching a chairlift, loading and unloading from a lift, or for local maneuvering at the top and bottom of the ski slope. In these situations, snowboarders may remove one boot, usually the rearward boot, from its binding to maneuver and propel themselves where the slope does not provide gravitational momentum. With one boot attached to the binding at a 45 to 90 degree angle to the longitudinal axis of the snowboard, the process of pushing the board and rider with the free foot/boot is awkward and uncomfortable at best, and the snowboarder may be prone to injury or accident. Dismounting from a chairlift is probably the most potentially awkward situation. The rider must negotiate a dismount while propelled by the chairlift, and then must move out of the way of the chairlift and subsequent passengers before the next chair approaches the dismount point.
While it is common for snowboard bindings to be secured to the snowboard at a fixed location and static angular orientation, some bindings can be rotated to different angular orientations by removing the boot from the binding and using tools to rotate the binding relative to the longitudinal axis of the snowboard. Other bindings may be rotated and locked in another angular orientation without removing the boot from the binding or using a tool. Additionally, some riding styles, skill levels, or preferences may benefit from a binding rotation mechanism that can remain unlocked at the rider's choice, allowing the free rotation of the binding.
Several similar types of sporting activities exist that may also use sideways-standing stances in combination with binding rotation mechanisms, including skateboarding, wakeboarding and sandboarding.